Play Creators Awards 2022 winners revealed

The winners of this year’s Play Creators Awards have been unveiled.

A celebration of the toy and game industry’s design and inventor talent, among the winners this year are Moose Toys, Fun-Damental Invention and Hasbro’s Tanya Thompson, while Spin Master’s Tal Schrieber scooped the Design Icon accolade.

The full line-up of winners can be found below:

TOY DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
This award celebrates a figure or team responsible for creating one of the year’s best toys.

• Bang Zoom, SG Labs & Fisher-Price Infant Brand Development Team – DJ Bouncin’ Beats (Fisher-Price)
• Big Monster Toys – Koosh Flix Stix (PlayMonster)
• Emma Costa Lascelles, Matt Jordan & Tom Yamazaki (TOMY) – Toomies Bubble & Bake Bathtime Kitchen (TOMY)
• Fuse & Polly Pocket Brand Design Team – Polly Pocket Pollyville Pet Adventure Treehouse Playset (Mattel)
• IDEO, Sound Machine & Christina Ericson (Mattel) – Barbie Hatch & Gather Egg Farm (Mattel)
• Making Things Studio & GUND Design Team – Baby GUND Lil’ Luvs Tuck-Away Lovey (Spin Master)
• Mari Luz Riu (ToyZone) – Jiggly Pets Tan Tan the Orangutan (Eolo Toys)
• Melissa & Doug Design Team – Let’s Explore: Campfire S’mores Play Set (Melissa & Doug)
• WINNER: Moose Toys Design Team – Magic Mixies (Moose Toys)

Sponsored by

GAME DESIGNER OF THE YEAR (Kids/Family Game)
Here we celebrate the brains behind the games that kept kids glued to the tabletop this past year.

• Bernhard Weber & Jens-Peter Schliemann – Magic Mountain (AMIGO)
• Big Ideas & Tricky – Whoopee Duck (Fuel for Fun)
• Big Monster Toys & Spin Master Games – Sink N Sand (Spin Master)
• David Yakos (Streamline Design) & Michael Sheridan (Educational Insights) – Kanoodle Fusion (Educational Insights)
• Fun-Damental Invention – Giddy Up (John Adams)
• IDEO – MixMatchies (Hasbro)
• JM Duparc & Identity Games Team – Head of Security (Identity Games)
• Seven Towns – Tippy the Dragon (John Adams)
• WINNER: Thierry Denoual – Tongues Out (Blue Orange Games)

Sponsored by

GAME DESIGNER OF THE YEAR (Party Game)
As the party game sector continues to thrive, this category champions the designers behind the year’s best examples of the genre.

• Barry McLaughlin & Jason Lautenschleger – Scribble Hips (Big Potato)
• Big Ideas & Tricky – Deface Race (TOMY)
• Big Potato R&D Team (Massimo Zeppetelli, Rebecca McKinlay, Ben Drummond, Tristan Hyatt-Williams) Dominic Yard & Beks Barnett – Chicken Vs Hotdog (Big Potato)
• Carl Brière (Synapses Games) – Match 5 (Synapses Games)
• Courtney Wood, Marty Pardoe, Matt Ludlow & Roberto Rotaru (Bubblegum Stuff) – Death by Coconuts (Bubblegum Stuff)`
• David McGranaghan & Julian Miller (McMiller) – Uproar (McMiller)
• Hazel Reynolds (Gamely Games) – Six Second Scribbles (Gamely Games)
• JM Duparc & Identity Games Team – Beeblio (Identity Games)
• WINNER: Matt Edmondson (Format Games) – Noggin (Format Games)

Sponsored by

R&D TEAM OF THE YEAR
In-house creative team at a toy titan, or leading design at a thriving SME, this award celebrates teams working in Research & Development that have achieved extraordinary things over the last year.

• Big Potato Games
• BlueJ (Jazwares)
• Character Options
• Hasbro SPARK R&D
• Make It Real
• WINNER: Moose Toys
• Prospero Hall (Funko Games)
• Spin Master
• TOMY

Sponsored by

INVENTION STUDIO / DESIGN AGENCY OF THE YEAR
The secret weapon for many toy firms, design agencies and invention studios are the unsung heroes of our industry. This category celebrates a firm that deserves recognition for exceptional work over the last 12 months.

• Bang Zoom
• Big Monster Toys
• WINNER: Fun-Damental Invention
• Fuse
• Making Things
• So Sound
• Triclops Studio
• Tricky
• Open 2 Design

Sponsored by

TOY DESIGNER OF THE YEAR (Licensed Product)
The first of two awards recognising excellence in licensed product, Toy Designer of the Year (Licensed Product) celebrates creators that have brought much loved characters and IP to life through great toys.

• Abbie Ellis & Sarah Hurst (hand2mind) – Numberblocks MathLink Cubes Activity Sets (hand2mind)
• Carine Rosalia – CoCoMelon Boo Boo JJ (Jazwares)
• Fuse, BOTI & Eolo Toys – NHL Battle Cubes (BOTI/Eolo Toys)
• Fuse & Spin Master Action Team – Batman Bat-Tech Transforming Batcave (Spin Master)
• Mattel Plush Team – Star Wars Galactic Pals (Mattel)
• Melissa & Doug Design Team – PAW Patrol Rescue Mission Wooden Dashboard (Melissa & Doug)
• Sweet Spot Studio, Versadyne & Fisher-Price Thomas Brand Development Team – Thomas & Friends Launch & Loop Maintenance Yard (Fisher-Price)
• WINNER: Wow! Stuff R&D Team & Bang Zoom – RealFX Baby Blue (Wow! Stuff)

GAME DESIGNER OF THE YEAR (Licensed Product)
This award is for a designer that has brought an IP to the tabletop in impressive style via an impressive licensed game this year.

• Aaron Weil (Mattel) – UNO Ultimate Marvel (Mattel)
• Amanda Birkinshaw (Angelpie) & Richard Heayes (Heayes Design) – Rubik’s Capture (Spin Master)
• The Fantastic Factory – LADBible’s First Impressions (VR Distribution)
• Frederica Scott Vollrath – The Great British Baking Show Game (Ravensburger)
• Lauren Wallace (Ridley’s Games) – Root for Groot (Ridley’s Games)
• WINNER: Prospero Hall – Rear Window (Funko Games)
• Sam Roberts (So Sound) – Harry Potter Skiving Snackbox Scavenge (Cartamundi)
• Steve Moore (Tantrum Innovation) – Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots: Jurassic World – Blue Vs Atrociraptor (Mattel)

PLAY INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
Whether it’s via AI, Robotics, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality or voice tech, the Play Innovation of the Year award celebrates designers driving innovation in the toy and game space through the integration of the latest and greatest tech.

• Austyn Romero (Ridley’s Games) – Jigsaw Duel (Ridley’s Games)
• Brian McMahon, Daniel Kim & Jared Ganrude (hand2mind) – Express Your Feelings Sensory Bottles (hand2mind)
• Doo-Bee Toys, Nextoy LLC & Rufus Butler Seder – Spirograph Animator (PlayMonster)
• Friedemann Findeisen – Cantaloop (Lookout Spiele)
• Kelley Lindberg (Mattel) – Barbie Cutie Reveal (Mattel)
• Moose Toys Design Team – Magic Mixies (Moose Toys)
• WINNER: Octopus Creations Inc, The Machine Lab Inc & Gerry Cody (Mattel) – Hot Wheels RC Aaron Wheelz Wheelie Chair (Mattel)
• Sega Toys & Spin Master’s Doll & Interactive Team – Purse Pets (Spin Master)
• ToyZone – SuperMasked Stretchy Figures (Eolo Toys)

RISING STAR AWARD
Who are the design legends of the future? Perhaps someone leading design at one of the industry’s many exciting start-ups, or a young star within your R&D team? If so, nominate them in the Rising Star category.

• WINNER: Carine Rosalia – Lunch Squares
• Colm Burns – So Sound
• Dominic Besagni – Ridley’s Games
• Emma Costa Lascelles – TOMY
• Luke Evans – Games to Get
• Michalis Rodosthenous – Seven Towns
• Olivia DeLuca – TOMY
• Ross Monks – Moose Toys
• Sarah Everett – So Sound

Sponsored by

INVENTOR RELATION EXEC OF THE YEAR
This Award celebrates figures working in Inventor Relations that have excelled over the past 12 months. Whether it’s due to commendable conduct with the inventor community or for being instrumental in finding and championing successful inventor items, this is a category to highlight the phenomenal work being done by individuals working in IR.

• Brent Geppert – Educational Insights
• David Winter – Jazwares
• Dominique Roy – Make It Real
• Heath Saber – Moose Toys
• Nicholas Tragnark – Hasbro
• Nikki Bauman – Fisher-Price
• Sarah Franco – Mattel
• WINNER: Tanya Thompson – Hasbro

DESIGN ICON
This award celebrates iconic figures that have helped shape the industry, truly leaving their footprint in the world of toy and game design.

WINNER: Tal Schrieber (Spin Master)

More Recent Play Creators Festival

TOMY joins Mojo Pitch 2025

“The Play Creators Festival provides the opportunity to meet the very best minds in the industry – and has provided us the ability to secure amazing innovation over the Mojo Pitch days in previous years,” said Alpesh Patel, VP of Global Toy Design at TOMY.

Big Potato joins Mojo Pitch 2025

“We’re super excited to get stuck in at Mojo Pitch and see all the latest and greatest game ideas,” said James Vaughan, Head of Game Development at Big Potato Games.

SMART Toys and Games joins Mojo Pitch 2025

“As an inventor relations executive, Mojo Nation’s Play Creators Festival is always the highlight of my year,” said Erik Quam VP New Product and Business Development.

Mojo Nation dates Play Creators Festival 2025

Next year’s live event will take place at London’s Stamford Bridge Stadium from Tuesday, June 24th to Thursday, June 26th.

Play Creators Awards 2024 winners revealed

A celebration of the industry’s design and inventor talent, among the winners this year are Fun-Damental Invention, Angus Walker and Kid Group’s Dan Klitsner.

Ravensburger’s Tim Schilder to take Play Creators Conference audience ‘Inside Game Design’

This year’s Play Creators Conference is taking place at London’s Stamford Bridge Stadium on Wednesday, June 26th.